True Name: Theseus
Aliases: Slayer of the Minotaur, Athens’ Wise Founder-King, Unifier of Attica
Class: Caster
Gender: Male
Height: 1.83 meters
Weight: 78 kilograms
Alignment: Lawful Good
Wish for the Grail: To live a life of his own, wherein he will not have to care for the responsibilities of a King.
Personality:
Conducting himself in a friendly manner, there is nonetheless a certain severity to his bearing and dignity in his posture that speaks of one that is used to command — as befits someone so remembered as a ‘great king’. Naturally, while he does recall his entire life from beginning to end, you could call this self as one more inclined toward such time, as opposed to the great wandering hero of his youth, so it is not surprising that he conducts himself like so.
Perhaps Theseus’ most defining aspects are three: his pride, his duty as a king and his duty as a hero, in no particular order. To begin with, of course he is prideful — after all, his is one of the most famous tales in his mythology, with various plays and retellings from both contemporary and much later writers, but perhaps it goes deeper than that.
After all, Theseus’ life was filled to the brim with ‘those that died due to Theseus’ actions’. Despite having been a wise king, the fact remains that he was one that brought misfortune upon his loved ones at every turn, from his father, to the women he loved and to his own son — his happiness was the price to pay for the happiness of his people, and thus, Theseus holds on to that pride because if he were to renounce it, it would make their sacrifices meaningless.
The duties of kings and heroes are more simple, if still core to his character — to Theseus, the king and his subjects live depending on one another, to the point that the relationship can be summarized as ‘the king must do everything he can for his people, and his people live for the king’s own sake’. He cannot forgive those that only take, and pities those that only give. The ‘duty of a hero’ goes hand in hand with an existence such as his, as well, because ‘a hero is one who bears the burdens of all in his sight’.
To be a hero is ‘to act virtuously’.
A blasted fool that just can’t bear to watch others cry. But perhaps being a fool isn’t such a bad thing.
Regarding his relationship with the Master, please, you should do well to learn how to brew good coffee, but also remind him that a senior’s duty includes taking his juniors out to a bar after a long day of work — or night, as it were.
Essentially, the expected roles of Master (intern) and Servant (CEO).
Background:
One can’t say that his legend is unknown, though the most famous part remains the middle segment — the travel to Crete and the slaying of the Minotaur.
Son of the Princess of Troezen, his mother was possessed by Poseidon the same night she had conceived him with King Aegeus of Athens, so one could say he was both rightfully child of the King and the Sea God. Trained in courtly and martial matters since boyhood, when he grew into a man, he took the birthright his mortal father had left — a sword and sandals — and parted for Athens to claim his proper place.
Facing various challenges along the way, he achieved fame as a hero long before he met his father, which made the man uneasy about the intentions of the powerful youth, since Theseus had chosen to not to reveal his identity. He was sent in another task to prove himself by his father’s consort, who sought to get rid of him by having Theseus try to subdue the Marathonian Bull.
To her surprise and terror, he succeeded, so her next attempt was poison. Aegeus, however, finally recognized the blade and sandals — and so knocked the cup away and embraced his child. Life would be kind, for a while, until the time to send tribute to King Minos of Crete came.
The circumstances behind that episode are well-understood, so we shall focus on what came after. Following Ariadne’s abandonment under Dyonisius’ command, Theseus was so distraught that he had forgotten to swap the funeral black sails for white ones, and Aegeus believed the worst. Thinking his only son dead, he threw himself to the sea in grief.
Theseus would then have to shoulder the burden of kingship, swallowing his own grief to be the king his subjects deserved. Severe and heartbroken, the road before him seemed miserable, but for one bright spot.
Bright Hippolyta, fiery and independent. She was the second and last woman he ever loved.
Originally, he had only joined Herakles’ expedition to repay a favor, but it all changed when he met that queen. He courted her and, incredibly, she responded to his advances — theirs was the first marriage between an Amazon and a man, and she bore his child, Hippolytus.
The other Amazons did not take kindly to their union, attacking Athens. Despite Theseus’ willingness to die for his people, seeing as it was his fault they were under attack, but that woman ended up sacrificing herself for his sake.
The Amazons left, and Theseus swore to never love again.
His next wife was one of convenience — Ariadne’s sister, princess of Crete, Phaedra, but she ended up falling in love with his son, who rejected her advances. In order to preserve her dignity, she committed suicide and left a ‘confession’ saying that Hippolytus had raped her. In anger, Theseus wished him dead, and he lost his son before the truth was revealed.
His last moments were spent in quiet contemplation, of how his rulership had brought happiness to his subjects but it had come at the cost of the lives of those he loved and his own personal happiness. He had been resigned to the fact that a King cannot do the same as a normal man, but even then. . .it was just too cruel. Even then, he was recipient of a vision — of how he would aid the Athenians in a future battle against the enemy, even after his death.
That was just how it was. If the wicked have no rest, those who punish them must also work relentlessly, but he accepted it. It was his role and duty as King and Hero to do everything he could for his people. Accepting his mistakes alongside his successes, his losses alongside his winnings, he realized that the path he had walked had not been lacking in wrong turns, but it had also possessed right ones.
In the end, that was all a man could wish for in a life.
Parameters
STR: D
CON: D
AGI: B
MGI: A
LCK: C
Noble Phantasm: A
Class Skills
Territory Creation: A. Capability to create a territory that is advantageous to oneself as a magus. Rather than a Workshop, what Caster creates is an Acropolis, a centre of command necessary for the usage of his skills and Noble Phantasms.
Rather than a magus, he acts the part of the ruler.
Item Creation (False): A. Ability to create tools, such as Mystic Codes and potions.
As a magus, Caster’s talent is exceedingly low, but due to his circumstances, he has supplemented his failings through use of the other advantages afforded to him. Whether it refers to elixirs that can heal the most grievous wounds or powerful Mystic Codes, he is able to procure them. However, their creation of such items is still not a process he carries out on his own.
Personal Skills
Divinity: B. Refers to one’s aptitude as a Divine Spirit. In Theseus’ case, he was imbued with Poseidon’s essence while still in the womb, which makes him the son of one of the chief deities of his Pantheon — therefore, he displays a high Rank.
Pankration: A. The most ancient of martial arts boasted of in Greece, an unforgiving combat style pioneered by both Herakles and Theseus that mercilessly seeks to crush the opponent. The technique once used to slay the Minotaur, perfected during his travels across Attica in his youth, to subdue even magical creatures.
Synoikismos: A+. A skill displayed by a select number of heroes. While there are certainly kings who ruthlessly conquered land and kings who ruthlessly defended land, this is a skill furnished to those that ‘unified lands’, bringing them to heel under a common figure and a common purpose, uniformly integrating them to form a greater whole. Normally, it should have possessed a different name, but Caster insists in such.
It is an ability that activates after one has ‘established a foothold’. Once Caster has created the Acropolis, his Territory naturally expands outward and brings the lands around him to heel, ‘unifying them under his rule’.
The great king that brought all of Attica under his own city for the first time in the history of Greece, Theseus is among those heroes honored by having such a deed ascribed to him as a ‘founding king’. He nurtured and protected his city until the last of his days and beyond, to the point of being hailed as its greatest son and his name becoming synonymous with it. Therefore, once this skill activates, the epicenter of his territory and the surrounding land gain a single quality.
— — That is to say, ‘this is, doubtlessly, Athens’.
Blessings of the Sea God: EX. Refers to ‘Theseus’ way of being a Caster’. Normally, those magi from the Age of Gods would sport different Skills to denote such ability, but he lacks any credentials or renown as a sorcerer. By all accounts, he never flung a single spell in his life.
However, he still manifests under this container, and if nothing else, his pride drives him to perform as perfectly as possible. Therefore, he unreasonably burned one of his fabled wishes right away in order to ‘be an excellent Caster’. This has manifested as what amounts to the ability to ‘have Poseidon perform the spell for him’. The things love for a son makes people do.
Regarding the legitimacy of his claim to the class considering such revelation, he will simply smile and say that it is only natural for a king to delegate regarding matters he has less-than-stellar expertise in.
Combat Capabilities: As a Caster, he would likely be disappointing were it not for his father’s aid. While he naturally boasts the highest Territory Creation and an ability to expand it, the issue remains that he was never a magus in life, so his credentials as a Caster would be absolutely abysmal otherwise as a matter of course, lacking Item Creation or even a way to cast spells properly. Were it not for those gifts he has, he would need to rely entirely on his Noble Phantasm to cull those weak enough to fall to the pseudo-underworld and employ his Pankration against those that face him — without being able to rely on anything else. Nonetheless, that is not the case, so his combat effectiveness remains respectable, employing those spells from the Age of Gods without exercising any restraint at all.
Noble Phantasm
Name: Aras — Divine Gifts from the Bountiful Sea
Rank: D
Type: Anti-Unit
There is a certain episode in his legend that speaks of how he protected Ariadne from her father’s fury when he discovered her with him, an Athenian. Just as Minos boasted of being son of Zeus, so did Theseus boast of his status as child of Poseidon.
Seeking to have him prove his claim with a test, Minos threw his ring to the sea and challenged Theseus to retrieve it. Not cowed, the hero dove underwater and searched, eventually finding his way to his father’s kingdom — where Poseidon gave him the ring and promised that, as a gift to his son, he would listen to any three wishes Theseus made and would ‘unerringly see them granted’.
Essentially it is ‘gifting Theseus what he may require’. To accomplish what he alone cannot, to defeat what he alone cannot, his father will doubtlessly provide to the best of his ability.
It should be noted that the wishes themselves are separate from the Noble Phantasm — by itself, it is just a tool that facilitates one-way communication between Theseus and his father, constantly active, taking the form of the ring he fished out of the water during that fateful time.
Summoned under such form, the number of wishes has been necessarily reduced to two in order to fulfill Theseus’ own desire to ‘excel as a Caster’. Poseidon’s love for his child is nothing if not blinding.
Name: Xepernontas Hades — The Heroic Journey Home
Rank: A
Type: Anti-Army
As legend goes, when Theseus retrieved his birthright from under the boulder, Aethra tried to convince him to travel to Athens through the sea — a safe and quick route in comparison to the roads. However, the hero gave a blunt refusal and instead prepared to tread the land on foot until reaching his destination.
His father had asked for someone worthy of his legacy. Therefore, before reaching and confronting him, he would first perform many deeds and acquire fame as a hero. Legend says that, in his way through the roads, he would come upon ‘six entrances to the underworld’-- bloodthirsty killers and monsters that sought to impede the travelers. Effectively, the ‘obstacles a hero must splendidly surpass to reach home’.
Theseus defeated them all. One after another, they fell, to either his wit or his might, and he stubbornly, decisively, made his way to Athens, proving he was worthy of the King’s time. To prove his worth as a son, he chose to surpass the underworld itself and those that had been sent to bar his path see him dead.
The Noble Phantasm forcibly recreates and imposes such condition upon anyone that enters his territory with ‘the purpose of confronting Caster, that is to say, Theseus, King of Athens’. To confront the King, one must prove oneself worthy of his time — and to prove oneself worthy, then their deed can be no lesser. Those journeying with such purpose will find that the environment around them takes on the characteristics of a pseudo-underworld, draining their force of providence with increasing severity as they approach the Acropolis.
Only those who can, without a doubt, surpass such challenge are worthy of entering and doing battle with him to begin with — for a king spares no ear for mewling children. Only those strong heroes that are able to surpass death are accepted as ‘those who can attempt to surpass him’. That is the penultimate challenge of the King of Athens.
There are three kinds of individuals that do not have to submit themselves to such test — those that have passed it before, those Theseus acknowledges as ‘Athenians’ such as his Master (intern) and, naturally, those that are ‘already Athenians to begin with’.
An unreasonable number of expectations set forth by an equally unreasonable man that simply cheers those that try on, and believes in their ability to surpass them.
This concept of struggling against challenges in order to return home (nostos) is prevalent in Greek myth, although perhaps odd in Theseus’ case since his ‘return’ was, effectively, the first time he saw what his ‘home’ (Athens) was like — but there had not once existed doubts regarding that it was home.
